Second Marriage

Chapter 60

The Prince of Wala was an outsider, so Xiao Youning didn’t have to go attend to him. Unfortunately, he was a foreign prince, and their countries were trying to establish a diplomatic relationship. His identity was more important than her identity as the di daughter of the Marquis. If she did not go and greet him, then others would say the Marquis Residence snubbed a distinguished guest, and probably be rumored to have looked down on the Wala royalty.

Thus, Xiao Youning had to go.

Ye Shen sensed her predicament. He took her hand and led her forward. “It’ll be fine, it’s just a Prince of Wala. I hardly acknowledge him, but when there are guests we should still follow proper etiquette. Otherwise, they will soon be like barbarians without understanding how our society works. I’ll go with you.”

The words “I’ll go with you” put Xiao Youning at ease. She followed his footsteps and slowly walked to the reception hall.

There were still seven days to go before the Mid-Autumn Festival, and the servants of the Marquis Residence had already begun to decorate the garden. Every flower and plant in the residence had been pruned. All the withered yellow leaves were picked out. The scenery was green like summer and not a trace of autumn could be found throughout the residence.

Xiao Youning and Ye Shen walked along the corridor. She relaxed looking at the green space. She showed off to Ye Shen how she had instructed the servants to create this.

Ye Shen smiled. “Mhm, Ning’er must be a little expert at running the household in the future.”

She was happy, and her eyes were full of anticipation for the future.

As they approached the reception hall, a faint voice could already be heard.

Ye Shen did not let go of his hand, nor did Xiao Youning. So, the two appeared as a couple in front of everyone.

Marquis Ningyuan watched as his daughter let go of their hands to greet him, and he raised an eyebrow.

Ye Shen looked indifferent. He bowed to Marquis Ningyuan and said, “This son-in-law was sending Ning’er back when I heard that Prince Ah Mo and Prince Jihan had come to visit. So we came over together.” After that, he gave the two princes an ordinary bow.

His words simply shocked the people there.

Even Marquis Ningyuan, who had already agreed that Ye Shen would be his son-in-law, was startled by his claim since the engagement was not official yet. Ye Shen was not discrete about it in front of outsiders. However, Marquis Ningyuan was no longer as startled when he slowly caught onto what was going on.

Ye Shen would not conduct himself in a way that attracted a lot of attention. There was probably something going on. Such as why Prince Ah Mo had to come to the Marquis Residence today… Marquis Ningyuan felt a chill go through his heart and looked at Prince Ah Mo with a stern look in his eyes.

So it was regarding Prince Ah Mo. 

At first sight, Prince Ah Mo was so amazed by Xiao Youning’s exceptional beauty that he didn’t see how Ye Shen was holding her hand. He was admiring her when he was suddenly surprised by Ye Shen’s “son-in-law”.

“Son-in-law?” Prince Jihan was flabbergasted. “In the Central Plains, it means the husband of the daughter, right? This Prince is the son-in-law of the Marquis?!”

Prince Jihan spoke in broken Chinese. His main point was that he thought Ye Shen was a prince. They had never been introduced. He only saw him at the banquet sitting with the Crown Prince.

Ye Shen spoke lightly to correct him. “Prince Jihan may have misunderstood. I am not a prince of this ruling dynasty, but I am indeed the son-in-law of the Xiao Family. We, the Ye Family and the Xiao Family, are choosing a wedding date soon. If the two princes are still in the capital by then, please come by the residence for a sip of wine at the wedding.”

By the time this was said, the two princes had already figured out Ye Shen’s background.

The Ye Family were important to the Emperor, so this person was Fifth Master Ye!

Prince Ah Mo was in shock again even before he could recover from his previous shock. This time, he also looked a little dazed.

Prince Jihan did not know that he would exacerbate his younger brother’s worries. He chuckled and thought, of course. It would be good to get close to Ye Shen since he is the Emperor’s favorite. 

Marquis Ningyuan understood Prince Ah Mo’s intentions with his daughter, so all hostility shifted to him and said, “True. When the wedding date is set, the two princes will be able to see the festivities of how we proceed with a marriage in our country.”

The saying “he failed to complete his quest before his death” applied to Prince Ah Mo.

In the end, Prince Ah Mo could only make up an excuse to leave. Marquis Ninguyan’s disdain grew when he saw this reaction. He was even considering inviting these two princes to a meal to stay longer and make Prince Ah Mo leave in complete disappointment.

Ye Shen naturally walked them out. Once they reached the shadow wall, the two princes wanted to get into their carriage and leave. Ye Shen suddenly looked up at Prince Ah Mo, his eyes dimmed and stared at him.

Prince Ah Mo felt as if he had been given a warning from a serpent and a chill ran through him.

His intentions had been detected by Ye Shen. However, how could he have known that Ye Shen had something to do with Marquis Ningyuan’s daughter? Prince Ah Mo finally fled nervously.

After seeing off this man with indecent intentions, Marquis Ningyuan was still full of anger. He cursed for a while in front of his son. Then, he flung his sleeves and went back inside.

If he didn’t make things more difficult for the Wala, who were already under intense pressure, then his last name would not be Xiao!

Ye Shen did not go back to the palace tonight. Instead, he went back to the Ye Family. He picked up his mother and told her what Prince Ah Mo had in mind.

Old Madam Ye absolutely had to go to the Xiao Family the next morning when she heard what had happened and angrily scoffed, “Those unworthy people are trying to rob me of my daughter-in-law. They really haven’t taken my son seriously!”

The Old Madam was angry. Early the next morning, she dressed up and had several carts full of things brought to the Marquis Residence.

The betrothal gift had already been sent, but no one knew about it at that time. The gifts in these carts represented Ye Shen’s respect for Xiao Youning, his soon-to-be wife.

The news of the engagement between Ye Shen and Xiao Youning spread like wildfire in the capital.

Information about how Xiao Youning was once divorced by the Li Family was also spreading. People began to attack Ye Shen for disregarding societal relationships, and how he had the audacity to want to marry his nephew’s wife. Some people who were jealous of Xiao Youning began to create rumors about how she might have seduced Ye Shen before the engagement.

All kinds of rumors were flying around for a while until there was an edict for the Xiao Family.

The emperor would personally marry Ye Shen and Xiao Youning, and all the rumors in the capital suddenly went up in smoke.

This was the will of the Emperor. If anyone dared to say one more word and was caught, then they were to be beheaded. What’s more, the Emperor made it clear in the edict that when Xiao Youning encountered bandits on her way to Datong to find her father, she was saved by Ye Shen. Thus, they were fated to be together.

They were innocent. Ye Shen rescued a maiden who was in danger; and Xiao Youning was a young female who was making a difficult journey to find her father. Their courage was commendable, their filial piety was touching, and they were model human beings.

Immediately after, there was a degree that granted Xiao Youning the title “County Master”.

The father and son of the Xiao Family could not be given a title. This was also the Emperor’s way of showing his approval for the marriage between the two families.

In two days, the gossip in the capital changed sharply. Everything was about praising this marriage, and how the couple matched perfectly. They also mocked the Li Family for treating a pearl like she was straw. The Li Family had tossed away a County Master and married a “County Mistress” who had no title, and had lost her reputation.

As a result, criticisms of the Eldest Princess Residence and Huijing were brought up. While their eyes turned red with anger, there was nothing they could do about the gossip.

The one who had lost all hope was Huijing, who was tortured by Li Qingzhi at home. Soon, she could no longer speak negatively of the person she hated the most who had also become her younger aunt.

She had to bow to Xiao Youning. Moreover, Xiao Youning could reprimand her while she could not resist at all.

After scheming against Xiao Youning, how could she expect Xiao Youning to treat her differently one day?

Under such heavy blows, Huijing fell ill, and Xiao Ye-shi, who was far away in an abbey, also fell ill.

The servant who gave her news said that the Ye Family had a joyous event happening soon. After hearing what it was, she finally understood what her mother had done… A mouthful of blood was forced out, and she became unconscious.

Elsewhere, because of the exciting marriage between Xiao Youning and Ye Shen, the Xiao Family, which had always been desolate, became lively.

Relatives of Marquis Ningyuan sent the female members of their family to help with the marriage. It was even busier than when Xiao Youning married into the Li Family.

After setting the wedding date, Xiao Youning stayed in her courtyard obediently as she waited for the wedding date to arrive.

No one knew that Ye Shen had originally planned to get married before the year ended. But because of Prince Ah Mo, he persuaded Marquis Ningyuan to move it up by two months.

After the Mid-Autumn Festival, their wedding was approaching.

The author has something to say:

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The wedding is going to be soon.